Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Book Club Discussion Post: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

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We have reached the day – it’s time to discuss The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. There have been many positive, and introspective reviews of the book both since our announcement of its choice for this book club, and over the years of Cannonball Read’s existence.  So, let’s dig in and talk about the why’s and how’s with this book, and some larger thematic conversations as well. Let’s start with a few ground rules: Since we’re anticipating lots of conversation, […]

Cannonball With a Book Club Book!!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, art by Ellen Forney

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Normally I have my Cannonball book picked out in advance. I know what my goal book is for the big reviews. 2016 hasn’t really worked out that way, so as I was packing my bags for a quick 48-hour trip to visit my family I had just finished book 51 and knew the next one would be *the* cannonball book. I of course grabbed our Book Club pick, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Can I just say that you […]

Allende is a Goddess

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, translated by Magda Bogin

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There is so much that Isabel Allende weaves into her writing, it is simply astounding. There is so much history, allegory, and personal stakes woven into the story of one family that it is almost impossible to know where to start. How have I not read this before? Why the holy fucking hell did I have to read Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis when this existed in the world. I COULD HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE STUDY OF LITERARY WORKS IN CONTEXT THROUGH THE STUDY OF WORKS IN […]

“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.”

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, narrated by Bryan Cranston

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700 Sundays by Billy Crystal must be an absolutely astounding audio book because I can’t imagine what it must have taken to beat out Bryan Cranston’s reading of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. I was so convinced it was award worthy that I went looking it up and was sadly disappointed. This audio experience was one of the most affecting I’ve experienced, and Cranston’s work is simply masterful. Tim O’Brien, through the way he weaves his narrative as beautifully read by Cranston (I know […]

There was an incident, it was curious (and also at night) and then things really started to get interesting.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon, narrated by Jeff Woodman

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One of the benefits of dragooning your friends into doing the Cannonball Read with you is that they are another great source of book recommendations. I’m not sure when exactly Ale suggested The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time to me, but I have a feeling it was sometime around when she read Marcelo in the Real World last year. Both books feature protagonists with Asperger’s Syndrome, and Ale suggests Marcelo to people who enjoyed Curious Incident. Audible did me a favor […]

“It’s fear that makes us lose our conscience. It’s also what transforms us into cowards.”

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (translated by Mattias Ripa, Blake Ferris, Anjali Singh)

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This year as I began making my epic list of things to read for Cannonball I asked some of my friends what they would suggest. While having these conversations my coworker mentioned that she hadn’t read Persepolis yet, but kept meaning to, and had I. I had not, so on the list it went, since she’s the mom of two small kiddoes, I could certainly do a little market research for her reading intake. Good news for her and you is that I *really* liked […]



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